Authority upholds I-T dept's benami order in wider probe against Atiq Ahmad's assets

New Delhi: The Adjudicating Authority for the anti-benami law has upheld a 2023 attachment of six land parcels by the Income Tax department as part of a larger probe against slain gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad, saying these real estate deals indicate "potential" money laundering by the accused.

These assets worth more than Rs 4.63 crore and located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh have been frozen by the Lucknow-based Benami Prohibition Unit (BPU).

Suraj Pal, a resident of Pipalgaon in Prayagraj who worked as a security guard and a 'pao bhaji' seller, was named as 'benamidar' (in whose name a benami property is standing) and Mohammad Ashraf Siddiqui, a relative of Atiq Ahmad's slain brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf, was categorised as the beneficial owner of these properties.

The I-T department claimed in its order that Siddiqui was a "gang member" of Atiq Ahmad and had a long history of serious crimes.

Atiq Ahmad and Ashraf were shot dead by three assailants in April 2023 when they were being taken for a health checkup by police in Prayagraj.

In its order issued on December 30 last year, the Authority said it holds these assets as "benami properties".

The investigating officer of the tax department undertook a "proper" probe and that there was "no force" in the argument of the defendants (Pal and Siddiqui) that the IO failed to show any reasonable justification or explanation which has provided him with reasons to believe that the properties under consideration are benami.

The attachment order was issued by the department in November 2023 under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transaction Act, 1988 and the IO issued a notice to the accused following approval by the then additional commissioner of I-T Department (BPU) Dhruvpurari Singh.

The lawyers for the defendants (Pal and Siddiqui) argued before the Authority that there was "no evidence" against their clients and the taxman was making charges of possession of benami assets by way of "conjectures and surmises".

They said the tax department joined "independent pieces of information to give the business transactions a colour of a huge benami transaction".

'Benami' means 'no name' or 'without name'. The real beneficiary of such a property is not the one in whose name it has been purchased.

The Authority's order has been accessed by PTI which says that the bank accounts of Pal were also used by Siddiqui for "rotating his illegal or unaccounted funds and there has been a complete takeover of Suraj Pal's identity, his signatures, PAN, Aadhaar etc. by Mohd Ashraf Siddiqui..." It said these observations "collectively indicate potential money laundering, unaccounted wealth and deliberate non-compliance with tax laws".

The Authority also directed the tax department to investigate all the other properties that were sold by Pal from the "benami angle".